As COVID-19 Outbreak Sweeps Through Classrooms, Israel Decides To Shutdown Schools With Even One Coronavirus Case

Two weeks after Israel fully reopened schools, more than 50 schools have been shut due to COVID-19 outbreak sweeping through classrooms with at least 261 students and faculty infected, NPR reported.

The most significant outbreak was reported in the Gymnasia Rehavia, a historic middle and high school in Jerusalem with as many as116 students and 14 teachers getting infected with Coronavirus.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced the country would close any school with at least one known infection after a sharp jump in cases in the past week.

Close to 250 students and school employees have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Israel’s Ministry of Education.

Israel has seen a total of 291 deaths out of a total of 17,377 known infected persons

At least 42 kindergartens and schools have been shuttered indefinitely. More than 6,800 students and teachers are in home quarantine by government order.